Lotus Flower: Book One|ZukoxOC(Avatar the Last Airbender Fanfic)

Winter Solstice: Part 1

When I had arrived at the village, my friends bombarded me with questions.

"Are you okay?"

"You took forever! Were you ambushed?!"

"What happened to your clothes?"

I didn't know what to say, so all I gave them was that I was okay. Some lady in the small town gave me clothes to borrow while she helped me to wash mine. It was so nice, it had taken me aback quite a bit.

After that, Katara, Aang and Sokka filled me in on what was going on in this weird place. There were many buildings that were partially destroyed, and apparently it's thanks to a rampaging spirit named Hei Bai. The spirit has attacked the last few nights, taking one person each time it raged.

"So what's the game plan?" I raise my eyebrow. I know they've had to come up with something. They're smarties. When they only glanced at each other with uncertainty, that's when I got worried. "Tell me you've got a plan!" I beg. This village was counting on us.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to stop it. I don't know how to be the Avatar.." Aang trails off and my frown deepens.

"Aang.. remember what I told you earlier today? You can do this. You're so much more capable than you think you are." I say gently and Katara nods her head in agreement.

"She's right. We believe in you Aang."

I glance towards Sokka to see him looking around, avoiding eye contact. "Right, Sokka?" I smile.

He shoots me a glare, "of course. We're not doomed at all."

"We've got your back." I encourage and Aang gives us all a grateful(still a bit nervous) smile. We walked inside one of the buildings where people were waiting for night to fall in their own nervous anticipation.

The four of us remained quiet until dusk came, Aang walked slowly from the building. "Don't forget to breathe." I remind him and nods, drawing a big breath in.

Walking towards the entrance to the village, I could hear Aang talking faintly. He was trying to lure the spirit out, but that's about all I could gather from his words. "This isn't right. We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up." Sokka presses, surprising me.

"I agree, I'll go help him," I start to walk towards the door but Kay-Fon—the man from earlier—stops me in my tracks.

"You can't. This is something the Avatar must do on his own. If anyone can save us, he can."

I shook my head, "I'm not doubting his abilities. I know he can do this." Despite my words, I still couldn't help but feel guilty about letting him do it without us.

"He still shouldn't have to face this alone," Sokka spoke with a passion I'd never assume the young warrior was capable of. In all honesty, it kind of threw me off. 

Once the sun had set, my heart sped up and I began to grow more worried for the young bender. Aang's calls into the forest became more desperate. Eventually, his voice becomes one of authority, like he was telling off the beast that wasn't even there yet. He twirled his staff around and stuck it in the ground before shrugging and walking towards us again but I call out to him when the spirit appeared from thin air. I step closer to the scene unfolding in front of me, trying to hear his words better.